Frank Lampard came off the bench to score a late penalty as Chelsea ended Man City's unbeaten Premier League campaign with a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge tonight.
Roberto Mancini's side got off to a flier when Mario Balotelli put his latest disciplinary problems behind him to give City a second-minute lead.
Sergio Aguero cut inside from the right and played in the Italian striker, who rounded Petr Cech before slotting home to give the league leaders a dream start.
The visitors were then denied a penalty appeal when Jose Bosingwa appeared to trip David Silva, but referee Mark Clattenburg waved play on.
Despite being on the back foot for the majority of the opening half hour, Chelsea equalised through Raul Meireles, who was once again preferred to Lampard in the Blues' starting lineup.
The Portuguese midfielder justified his selection by confidently converting Daniel Sturridge's cross on the volley after the England forward showed great trickery to go past Gael Clichy.
However Meireles was then fortunate to remain on the pitch after only being shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Pablo Zabaleta.
Likewise, City were lucky to maintain their full quantity of players as Yaya Toure twice escaped a sending off for off the ball incidents with Juan Mata.
Referee Clattenburg did eventually draw for a red card with an hour played when he sent off Clichy for two bookable offences.
The home side then displayed their man advantage by bossing the next 20 minutes and were awarded a penalty when Joleon Lescott was adjudged to have handled Sturridge's curling shot.
Substitute Lampard stepped up to smash in the resulting spot kick to send Chelsea third and reduce the deficit between them and City to seven points.
Joe Fish
